


Hold Me

by ScarletCake



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Relationships, Blood, Broken Bones, Everyone Has Different Jobs, Falling In Love, Fluff, Heroes & Heroines, Karisawa Erika/Kujiragi Kasane - Freeform, Kishitani Shinra/Celty Sturluson - Freeform, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Scars, Supernatural Elements, Trans Character, Trans Orihara Izaya
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2018-10-23 15:43:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10722321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletCake/pseuds/ScarletCake
Summary: Shiki isn't prepared for what happens when he takes on the responsibility of recruiting Orihara Izaya.





	1. First Impressions

Sometimes Shiki hated his job. Like last week when some punk tried to sneak into the gallery in the middle of the night and he had to come in extra early to ensure that the cleanup was handled properly. If any evidence had been left behind it would’ve been on his ass and he preferred overseeing everything under his jurisdiction so he’d had to stand around for hours watching the cleanup crew to make sure they did their job thoroughly. 

Those kinds of things had always made him tired.

Most of the time he enjoyed his job. His workplace was peaceful, the music tasteful, and though his coworkers were rowdy at times, he’d found that he quite enjoyed their company. They’d been at this just as long as he had, some a few years more or less than himself, and everything they did was professional. If it wasn’t it was kept locked down and never spoken of around patrons. 

It was comfortable and Shiki liked comfortable. 

And then there were the rare days that his job was extraordinarily interesting. 

Today was one such day. 

Part of what Shiki did for the company was keeping up with which magazines were doing particularly well, which artists were up and coming, which models were doing well, and getting into contact with any of those he found suitably impressive. He’d ensure that they were worth the effort before sending them on to speak with Mikiya about future partnerships or publicity for both organizations that was lucrative for everyone involved and reached the largest possible audience. 

As of late, Shiki had been unable to keep his interest turned anywhere but a specific model and the photographer who did their shoots. The agent overseeing them both was someone he had previously worked with and, after a few days of thinking it over, he convinced himself to ask for a private audience on an afternoon that worked for them. After just a few days of further correspondence, he was granted the meeting he’d been hoping for. 

Akabayashi wasn’t subtle in announcing his knowledge of Shiki’s interest in this matter, but when he assured him it was just business there was enough respect between them that he didn’t pry too far into it even though his eyes shone knowingly with mischief. 

“Would you like some company on this excursion?” Akabayashi asked just as he was preparing to leave that day.

Shiki looked at him blandly as he collected his coat and slipped his cell phone into his pocket. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m fully capable of handling this one on my own.” 

“You sure?” Akabayashi trailed behind him and he felt his eyes burning into the back of his neck, “It can get pretty hard to focus in that environment sometimes.” 

Shiki was tempted to roll his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder. “Are you asking to accompany me so you can stare or to help in negotiations? Because if it is the former then I will have to insist that you stay here. And as for the second, I’ve already told you I can handle this on my own. I have dealt with this company before.” 

Hand raised in surrender, Akabayashi leaned on his cane and grinned at him, “Just trying to look out for you. Never know what kinds of people you’ll come across with these outings.” 

“I’ve done enough research,” Shiki argued tiredly. “It’s not hard to find information on a single model, Akabayashi.” 

“No,” he inclined his head in acquiescence, “but there could still be things you don’t know about this one in particular.” 

That sounded cryptic, even for something coming from Akabayashi’s lips. Shiki stopped to turn around fully and narrowed his eyes at the other man, “What are you not telling me?” 

A shrug, “Dunno. You said you don’t need me so I’m sure you already know what I know. And if you don’t then you can ask him yourself. That’s the whole point, after all.” 

Shiki frowned at the pronoun. He didn’t ask how Akabayashi knew that or how he knew which model he was going to speak with. He merely raised an eyebrow. “Are you done or are you going to stall me long enough to make me late?” 

“Ah, we wouldn’t want that. Being late on a first date is never good. Don’t let me keep you.” His tone was smug even if his expression was kept carefully, mockingly respectful. 

Shiki’s lips tensed at the word  _ date  _ but he didn’t respond to the jab. Akabayashi knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t. That did not stop him from prodding, however. “I need you to accompany Vorona today,” Shiki announced as he turned to walk away. “She found something that will interest you.” 

“What might that be?” 

Shiki shrugged, “Dunno. Guess you’ll have to find out when you get there. That’s the whole point, after all.” 

Laughter trailed after him as he left the building. It was warm outside, uncomfortably sticky from the humidity and with no wind to help break through the stagnation. He already felt sweat beading at the back of his neck. 

There was a car waiting for him a short walk from the door. It was already running, a man behind the steering wheel waiting for him. The wave of cool air that hit him when he opened the door was refreshing. Once he was settled he pulled out the piece of paper he’d written the address on and handed it to his driver. 

The ride over was spent in silence while he reread everything he knew about the model and all the emails he had from his brief communications with Karisawa about him and his photographer. Most of her messages were energetic and long winded, though all of it still somehow remained professional. Shiki didn’t know how she did it but he didn’t have the energy to question it. He sent her a quick update on his location and the time he expected he’d arrive by, and then he locked his phone and turned his head to stare out the window for the remainder of the trip. 

The route through Shinjuku took them right past the national garden and Shiki wondered idly if it was visible from Karisawa’s office window. He checked his phone for new emails, knowing that there wouldn’t be any or he’d have heard a notification sound, and his driver announced that he could see the building. 

It was a lot of glass with straight lines and creamy white stone; not what Shiki had been picturing in his head but still something he’d expect Karisawa to have an interest in. After the car was parked his driver informed him that he’d wait for him either in the car or he’d go inside the tiny cafe he could see across the road. Shiki nodded and told him he would contact him when he was finished.

As soon as he stepped out of the car he was hit once more with a heavy wave of heat. The walk to the entrance of the building wasn’t long, but by the time he stepped inside the lobby he felt as if he’d been coated with a thin layer of sweat. A quick glance around the room revealed several seemingly real plants and a mirrored wall where the elevators were lined up. The tile was a lighter toned granite and the walls were a pale blue.

The secretary was typing on a computer when he approached her. It took her a few moments to look up and greet him. When she did he noticed a flash of red in her eyes, “Good afternoon,” she greeted him with a tired smile, “How may I assist you?” 

“I’m here for a meeting with Karisawa Erika. She’s already aware that I am here, but she instructed me to see you first.” 

The woman’s smile grew a tiny bit more genuine, “Ah, that would be because I need to give you a keycard. Give me one moment.” 

Shiki bowed politely and turned away so she wouldn’t feel like he was imposing on her space. There was a quiet water feature along the wall in front of the reception desk that caught his eye. He wondered if he should install something like that in the gallery or if it required too much upkeep for him to want to bother. He made a mental note to look that up later. 

“Karisawa-san appears to have rented out the entire 7th floor,” the woman told him, though she sounded unsurprised by this. “There are two doors up there, but you’ll want to take the one on the left.” She held out a card for him and after he took it she continued, “I hope you have a pleasant visit, Shiki-san.” 

The elevator ride up was smooth with no interruptions and the doors slid open to reveal the same cream and blue color scheme as the lobby. Shiki took a few steps forward so the elevator doors could close again and glanced to his left in search of the door. 

The wood was a dark brown and it wasn’t shut all the way. He could hear movement from just inside as he slipped the keycard into the pocket opposite his cell phone. 

Shiki was taking a step toward the door, still trying to decide if he was going to knock or call out for someone to hear him when Karisawa burst out into the hall with a wide smile on her face. 

“Shiki-san’s here!” She said it loud enough that he was certain anyone inside would hear her. Her eyes glittered with excitement, “Do you like the building?” 

Her excitement and energy were contagious though he chose not to show it. He did allow the very edge of his lips to pull upward after he bowed his head and her response was immediate. Her grin grew brighter and her body language was more open. 

She seemed to notice that he was still standing in the hallway and stepped sideways to make room for him, “Come inside! We have tea and coffee if you’d like some. There’s also toast and sushi, of all things, because Orihara can’t seem to stay away from the stuff.” She pointed to the right at the designated food table as he followed her inside and then past that to a leather couch that did not match the palette of the room at all, “There’s also somewhere you can sit down if you’d like. Orihara is in the middle of changing his wardrobe right now, but he’ll be out to continue the shoot in a moment.” 

“Continue it?” Shiki asked, “Have I arrived late?” 

Karisawa waved her hands emphatically, “Not at all, Shiki-san! Orihara just likes to do warm ups beforehand and Kine-san humors him.” She took a step closer and lowered her voice conspiratorially, “Though, between you and I, those are usually some of the best shots we take. Orihara’s posture is more relaxed and natural.” She let her voice fall back to its normal volume and stepped away from him, “Unfortunately he never lets us use those photos so we keep them on a hard drive for his own use.” 

From around the curve in the wall, he heard a voice that sounded equal measure amused and sharp, “Are you speaking poorly of me, Erika-chan? Careful, you might ruin my good mood and then where will we be?” 

“Where we usually are; with your expression fierce and sharp.” Karisawa threw back at the voice, “You’re starting to make a name for yourself with that. It’s not me that suffers for your emotional state. You’re just building up the expectations others have for you.” 

“Ahh, but that means I can surprise them later with an entirely new attitude.” The voice was muffled now, but closer. Shiki wondered if Orihara had something covering his face. 

Karisawa giggled, “What do you think about that, Kine-san? Could Orihara pull off holding an audience even if he changed his attitude?” 

A soft voice came from the same direction as Orihara’s, “It’d probably make them like him more.” 

“So cruel, Kine-san!” Orihara’s voice was closer and no longer muffled. Karisawa had tried coaxing Shiki into sitting on the couch next to her while they waited, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about being seated when meeting a new client so he’d remained standing. 

He didn’t get a chance to express this to her before Orihara took the choice away from him, prancing into the room, followed closely by a bald man in a black suit. Shiki tried to keep his expression neutral when Orihara looked at him, his eyes dancing up and down his body lazily. Shiki kept his eyes respectfully level on Orihara’s face. 

He had dressed up in one of his favorite suits for this occasion, white with a black dress shirt, but because of the heat, he had chosen to carry his jacket. It was hard to tell if Orihara was impressed. Shiki certainly was, but he’d seen enough pictures of Orihara to know how attractive he was. He didn’t have to drag his gaze over the other’s body like Orihara was currently doing. 

He was also a gentleman and didn’t feel the need to make Orihara uncomfortable. He had more than enough people giving him lecherous gazes, he didn’t need to add another stranger to that list. 

Karisawa spoke up after a moment of silence filled with odd tension, “Shiki Haruya, this is Orihara Izaya.” 

Orihara grinned wickedly at him, “It’s lovely to finally meet you. Erika-chan has spoken high praise of you for the past several days. I can see she wasn’t lying about some of it, at least.” 

Karisawa’s offended “Hey!” was drowned out by Orihara’s laughter and Kine’s fiddling with the equipment. 

“Likewise,” Shiki said without the flirty lilt Orihara added to his statement, “I hope our work together will be pleasant.” 

Orihara gave him one final once over before he turned on the ball of his foot and strode over to the sheets of white he was meant to stand on. With his back turned Shiki let his gaze trail down from the back of Orihara’s head to his nape, the back of the deep maroon shirt he was wearing, then down further to the long stretch of his legs covered thinly with something black and shiny. He wasn’t wearing shoes and his socks were a deeper black than the pants themselves. Shiki didn’t quite see the purpose of this particular outfit aside from outlining the model’s ass. 

Maybe that was the point.

Karisawa tapped him on the elbow. When he looked down to meet her eyes he was met with a softer smile than he was expecting, “Orihara doesn’t make good first impressions all the time, but you’ll like him the longer you know him. He seems to like you already.” 

Shiki silently nodded. That much was clear, but what Shiki was after was his talent, not his personal interests. “Perhaps he’ll grow on me,” he conceded. 

Across the room, there was the flash of a camera. Karisawa’s smile grew. 


	2. Next Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor warning for a discussion of past violence.

When Erika initially told Izaya about Shiki Haruya he’d been skeptical. Not only did he sound too good to be true, he also couldn’t believe that a real person could be impressive enough to leave such a lasting positive impact on Erika. Outside of her group of friends she had very little real life interest in people. She was friendly enough and got along well with most people. Izaya had simply never seen proof that she could be that interested in a human being before.

Except for her girlfriend, but Izaya was fairly convinced she wasn’t human.

Meeting Shiki was an entirely different matter from hearing about him and though Izaya knew he was in his own comfort zone it still made him anxious not to have set up this meeting himself. He’d met enough human beings to know that he needed to be cautious. Neither of his jobs permitted much trust of character.

Trusting Erika was easy. Trusting a complete stranger was not.

They’d left the front door open so that they would hear when the elevator doors opened and as a test to see how Shiki would respond to an open door. Erika had waited several moments before growing impatient and greeting the man herself while Izaya hid in a different part of the apartment.

Kine had followed silently after him, acting as either his bodyguard or reassurance, Izaya didn’t know which. He could have followed him to make sure he didn’t change into something outlandish, as impossible as that would be with the outfits Erika had laid out for him.

The first muffled sounds of Shiki’s voice had carried around the wall toward him and he was almost surprised by how calm and level-headed he sounded. If not for Erika’s descriptions he would’ve been unable to trust what he was hearing. Most of the people he’d met that held powerful positions, or even those that believed themselves more important than they were had sounded haughty and exasperated at the thought of being kept waiting for a moment longer than they wished.

Shiki, apparently, was patient. Izaya tested his patience with open flirting, shamelessly raking his eyes over the man’s admittedly impressive body several times before they were introduced formally by Erika. For at least those few moments, Shiki had kept his eyes respectfully leveled on his face. After he’d turned around to walk away he’d felt Shiki’s eyes follow him but without the discomfort he was used to accompanying that feeling.

When Izaya felt others staring at his back it made him nauseous or angry, uncomfortable because he knew exactly where most of their minds traveled, but Shiki didn’t make him feel disgusted. Izaya wasn’t used to this level of respect.

Throughout the few hours Shiki sat watching him, none of his movements felt weighted by excess attention. It was like Shiki was watching because it was his job, but also because he was appreciative of more than just his body. The implication that he wasn’t trying to get into Izaya’s pants seemed a foreign concept.

Izaya had started out not caring if he impressed him. If a normal performance wasn’t enough for the man then he could walk away and nothing would change. They had enough business as it was. Shiki was simply a possible different direction, a step up for Izaya and more publicity for Erika. But he found himself caring about the outcome of this meeting more than he thought he would.

If it was merely because of attraction or a desire to impress someone that actually respected him for what he did instead of what he was, Izaya didn’t care about the specifics. The change in his attitude was clearly visible in each of the photographs he would see later that evening. Shiki would see them before he did and that thought didn’t hold as much loathing as he was used to feeling about others having more control over him or what he did than Izaya did.

Maybe part of that was the mediation of Erika’s presence in it all. She would make sure the choices were things Izaya would approve of as well and he knew that. The amount of trust he had in her was frightening sometimes, but she was all he’d had to rely on for years and she’d never once given him a reason not to trust her.

“Izaya?” Erika’s soft voice broke through his preoccupation. “Shiki-san would like to speak with you about a possible next meeting. If you have an interest, of course.”

Izaya blinked a few times to refocus his gaze on the water bottle he had been cradling before he looked up at her. Her expression gave away a sense of urgency that Izaya didn’t understand until he glanced over at Shiki standing by the door. There was a confused frown on his lips that was directed at what Izaya assumed was his phone. He nodded his head and gave Erika a faint and, hopefully, reassuring smile.

Shiki straightened his posture as Izaya drew nearer, “I apologize for cutting this short, Orihara-san. There seems to be an emergency at work that I must attend to myself.”

Izaya waved a hand dismissively, “I’m not offended. We’re all busy people. I do want to thank you for taking the time to travel all this way just to witness such a mundane occurrence so we could be properly introduced.”

Shiki bowed his head respectfully, “Thank you for allowing me the pleasure of making your acquaintance. I would like to do this again, if you don’t mind the intrusion.”

“I would love to have you watch me again,” he replied and watched Shiki for a reaction to his words. There wasn’t one.

“Has Karisawa forwarded my information to you or would you like for me to continue going through her for now?”

Izaya grinned, “Oh I’d like to speak with you directly, I think. She has given me your email and phone number already. I will check my schedule for an opening and send you some dates. Does that work for you or would you rather we do that now?”

He watched Shiki glance at his watch and then shake his head, “Unfortunately this is something that I must attend to immediately or I would stay. Send me the days you have free and I’ll inform my boss that I will be visiting again.”

“Of course.” Izaya followed Shiki to the door and leaned against the door frame while he waited for the elevator, “Have I made a good impression, Shiki-san? Was my performance satisfactory?”

Shiki blinked at him and the very beginning of a scowl formed between his brows, “I would not have come here if I did not think you worth my time, Orihara-san.”

Izaya smiled at him, slow and genuine, “You can call me Orihara, if you like. We’ll be working together from now until you grow tired of me, after all.”

His eyes narrowed further at that, “Perhaps when we know each other a bit better. As you’ve said, we’ll be working together for quite some time.”

The elevator doors chimed open and Shiki held his hand out to keep them open. His eyes held Izaya’s gaze for a long moment before his frown grew deeper and he bowed his head respectfully, “Until next time, Orihara-san.”

Izaya fluttered his fingers in a wave, “Goodbye, Shiki-san. I’ll be sure to contact you soon.”

Even after the elevator doors shut and the numbers above the door began their slow descent, Izaya stood in the doorway thinking over Shiki’s reactions to him. Only when Erika came up behind him and pressed a hand against his lower back did he move.

Her brown eyes were lit up with mirth when he glanced down at her, “So? You liked him, didn’t you? I knew you would. He’s incredibly charming.”

“It doesn’t matter if I like him or not, Erika-chan. The problem is if _he_ doesn’t like _me._ And we both know how hard that is to do,” Izaya replied sarcastically.

“Oh hush!” Izaya brushed past her as she exclaimed her disagreement, “We both know how talented and lovely you are. Anyone would be charmed by you, and in fact, everyone you’ve ever met has been.”

“Everyone except for one, and now perhaps two,” Izaya replied distractedly. He padded across the floor toward the table to collect a few pieces of sushi on a plate and settled into the couch cushions afterward.

Erika sighed tiredly, “Shinra doesn’t count, Izaya. He’s just an odd case of bad taste.”

“I wouldn’t call Celty bad taste if I were you, Erika-chan.” Izaya picked up a piece of otoro and closed his eyes in delighted enjoyment of his favorite food while he chewed. After he finished he opened his eyes to see Erika raising an eyebrow at him. Izaya shrugged, “Especially not in Shinra’s presence.”

“I’m not saying Celty is bad taste. She’s a goddess. She’s a beautiful, mythical death fairy with perfect breasts,” Izaya rolled his eyes at her and Kine chuckled from where he was adjusting his camera, “how I’d love to fit her for some dresses.” She had a dreamy look on her face and then shook herself and stuck a finger out accusatively at Izaya, “Celty doesn’t count. Everyone loves Celty. Outside of her Shinra has bad taste.”

“His girlfriend doesn’t have a head. Clearly I cannot compete with such a thing.” Izaya shoved another piece of sushi in his mouth before continuing, “Not that I’d want to. Shinra’s gross.”

“It bothers you that he doesn’t dote on you, admit it.”

“That isn’t what bothers me. What bothers me is his fascination with wanting to experiment on me. Have you seen the things he pulls out every time I come over? Those knives aren’t for show I can tell you that much.”

Erika made a frustrated sound and started collecting pieces of fruit in a bowl, speaking over her shoulder at him as she did so, “You’d be fine even if he somehow managed to cut something off.”

“That doesn’t make it less unpleasant,” Izaya grumbled under his breath.

Erika sat on the couch next to him, “Of course it doesn’t, but it’d be more worrying if he knew you wouldn’t heal from a severed limb and still wanted to do it.”

“It’s worrying that he wants to do it in the first place. It doesn’t matter if I’ll heal from it or not. And he’s not supposed to know that kind of thing anyway. I haven’t told him.” He glared at her through his peripheral, “Why did you mention that to him? He didn’t need to know about that.”

“I was worried!” Erika exclaimed around a mouthful of pineapple, “Your arm was missing and you were bleeding everywhere! What was I supposed to do? Ignore that and not call our doctor friend? Or better yet, an ambulance. If you weren’t the way you are then I _would_ have called an ambulance and then where would we be, hmm?”

Izaya shrugged, “I don’t know. We could’ve had to pay a fine for a false emergency call, maybe?”

Erika elbowed him in the ribs and across the room, Kine stood up to check his lens, “With that much blood on the floor you’re lucky I didn’t think you’d murdered someone.”

“How do you know that’s not why my arm was missing?” Izaya replied nonchalantly, “Maybe I cut it off to cover up the evidence.”

Erika rolled her eyes, “Shut up, Iza-chan. I know you wouldn’t do that.”

“At the time you didn’t though.”

“That possibility didn’t even cross my mind at the time,” she argued, “I was more concerned with keeping you from bleeding out on the floor.”

“I was fine, just a bit dizzy.” Izaya narrowed his eyes at the last piece of sushi on his plate, “And in pain, I suppose.”

“You suppose?” Erika growled and shoveled a strawberry into her mouth, “It certainly looked like it hurt. I can’t imagine that didn’t hurt, in fact. You were probably in shock.”

Izaya shrugged again, “Still. Didn’t require a call to Shinra shrieking about how I was dying.”

“If you were a normal person then you would have been dying.” Erika defended herself, “Shinra even sounded worried.”

“Of course he sounded worried. You told him I’d lost more than a liter of blood and that I’d cut my arm off. Which is untrue, by the way.”

“I don’t care that it was untrue. It got Shinra there faster.”

“He got there exactly as fast as usual.” Izaya said blandly, tired of having this conversation, “By the time he’d arrived I was fine.”

“The blood was still there as proof that I wasn’t lying though,” Erika grumbled.

Kine turned around and threw Izaya a meaningful glance, “We need to get back to it if you want to finish this set today.”

“Ah, yes, you’re right Kine-san.” Izaya grinned at Erika while he set his plate aside, “You’re a distraction, Erika-chan.”

“You were fine while Shiki-san was here, I’m sure you’ll manage.”

Izaya walked around the curve in the wall and tugged his shirt off as he went, “What ever could you be implying? Shiki-san was a perfect gentleman.”

“I was referring to your obvious attraction, actually. I knew Shiki-san would behave himself. He has self-control.”

Izaya sifted through the hangers and found a pair of dark blue jeans and a white shirt with some design he didn’t have a name for on it. The shoes that went with it were a deep red. He frowned at all the straps on them. “I can control myself. That was just my way of testing his patience.”

Erika’s _uh-huh_ echoed around the room. Izaya chuckled to himself while he changed out of the very comfortable black leggings he’d been wearing for the past few hours. The jeans were also comfortable, if a bit more restrictive. The shirt had lace at the bottom edge that tickled his lower back as he walked. Kine noticed his trouble with the laces on the shoes and kneeled in front of him to fix them while Erika looked on with critical interest.

“Take a few extra shots of his back, please. The pattern on the front is less important.” Erika explained and when Kine nodded she frowned at Izaya, “Did you put on the white binder that I set out for you?”

Izaya raised an eyebrow, “No? The black one is fine. It makes the lace stand out more.”

“Turn around so I can see.”

He turned slowly and glanced over his shoulder at her, “See? It looks better like this.”

Erika nodded very slowly. They both jumped in surprise when her phone started ringing. Kine backed Izaya up against the grey sheet he’d spread out and adjusted his posture while Izaya stared at Erika’s face to gauge her reaction to whoever was calling.

The abrupt change from serious business to oozing joy told him exactly who it was before she even had time to press the ‘accept call’ button and breathe out, “Kasane-chan!”

How she managed to make her voice sound like a declaration of love over her girlfriend’s name he would never understand.

Kine shook his head with a tiny smirk on his lips, “She’s always so energetic when Kujiragi-san calls.”

Izaya laughed quietly and Erika shot him a half-hearted glare before escaping out the front door to the relative privacy of the hallway.

“Perhaps we should invite her the next time Shiki Haruya is here so that you two can stare unhindered at each other while Karisawa-san is entertained,” Kine supplied helpfully.

Izaya said nothing. That wasn’t a bad idea but somehow he doubted Erika would agree to that. And given Shiki’s apparent disposition, he’d likely feel like he was imposing. Izaya wanted him to impose and giving him a private audience each time seemed like the best way to ensure he would continue to do so.

“When is the next time we’re doing a shoot here, Kine-san?”

Kine stepped away from him and pulled out his phone to check his calendar, “Two weeks from now.”

“Can we afford to move that to next friday instead?”

He scrolled up on his phone for a moment and then nodded, “I’m completely free that day. We’ll need to discuss a theme with Karisawa-san if you wish to move it ahead as we hadn’t planned one yet.”

“I was thinking suits.” Erika announced from the doorway, her phone still held in her hand and a mischievous look in her eyes, “Kasane-chan has a new line that she’s looking for someone to model for her.”


	3. Mistakes Have Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for graphic description of injury and a minor OC death.

Izaya’d never had so much trouble focusing. It was dangerous for him to be so distracted, but he didn’t really have much concern for his own well-being. He had very good instincts for danger and he’d rarely been hit by something he didn’t know was coming.

Izaya was well aware of his own limits.

There weren’t any. Even if his body was shredded he’d wake up completely fine.

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for when he came out here. There had been rumors of a demon on the loose that had been seen attacking people who would later go on to attack others as if they’d been brain-washed, though there wasn’t enough evidence to explain how. The only thing connecting the victims were tiny cuts, barely deep enough to draw blood.

Izaya had no idea where to look for the one causing this. There wasn’t a set pattern to where it had been seen or where the attacks had taken place. There weren’t any accounts that explained what the creature looked like either. All he had to go on was ‘glowing red eyes’, which wasn’t very helpful when his own suit looked like it had glowing red eyes. Sitting on one balcony in the middle of Tokyo certainly didn’t guarantee that he’d randomly find the thing. He was unlikely to find any danger from here. If anything found him that would be an entirely different matter.  

It did give him a quiet place to sit while he tried to collect his thoughts though.

The fact that his thoughts had been drifting to Shiki’s face for the last few days was disconcerting. He was attractive, certainly, but he was still trying to figure out what was drawing him in. The scar on his left temple was both incredibly hot and something that Izaya was curious about the story behind. It was possible that he had received it from some heroic action of his own, but there was something underlying his upright attitude that felt darker. Izaya didn’t know him well enough to judge whether he’d ever had any connections to the underbelly of this city, but he wouldn’t be surprised if there were questionable things in the man’s past. And if he continued showing an interest in Izaya then there would certainly be questionable things in his future as well.

There were questionable things in most every person’s past, at least in those he was acquainted with. Even Celty had things she preferred to keep hidden. Of course, she’d never told Izaya about any of that, he’d had to find that information out for himself. Their interactions were still shaky, at best, but Izaya thought there was genuine possibility for friendship between them.

If only they could get past the things they differed on.

He had seen glimpses of Celty’s shadows on his nights out and he would’ve seen more of them if she wasn’t actively trying to avoid him. On the nights he didn’t see her there were others to catch his attention. Most were trivial presences that would vanish within a few weeks, but there were those that Izaya desperately wanted to know more about.

Snake Hands was one that had made rare appearances, though Izaya had never been lucky enough to encounter it.

The only other hero that he was _really_ interested in was the one he’d heard fantastic tales of; a metal knight that was stronger than anything anyone had ever seen. It made Izaya’s skin itch just knowing that such a thing existed in the world around him and yet, somehow, he’d never seen evidence of it. Not so much as a glimpse of silver or the green he was known for.

Izaya would complain that they were drawing too much attention to themself by choosing green, but he didn’t have much room to talk with the vibrant red across his own chest.

He’d painted himself as a target for anyone that bothered to look.

His phone vibrated in the pouch inside his boot, startling him. He narrowed his eyes as he tugged his leg up to pull the phone out. Just a few news updates, a text from Erika telling him not to stay out too late (you’ll have darker circles than normal, you know how hard those are to cover up with makeup!), a missed call from Mairu that he would have to return tomorrow if he didn’t want her to be pissed for the next few months, and a text from a number he wasn’t familiar with.

He looked through the news emails distractedly. Several blocks away there was a bank robbery taking place - not his line of work to handle. There was a body found at the docks near the bay - unsurprising. Even if he wanted to get involved in either of those cases, he wouldn’t. He’d been waiting for hours for a target to be emailed to him and there was still nothing.

He sighed and set his phone down on the concrete behind him. After several more minutes of silence, he started stretching each of his limbs to keep his mind from wandering again. His phone vibrated immediately after he stood up to catch a glimpse of Celty flying down the street on her motorcycle.

It was a text from Shiki’s number.

This made him frown. Shiki didn’t know this number, which meant he was contacting Kannon, not Izaya. And if that was the case it meant Shiki needed someone dealt with that he could not deal with himself in any legal way.

Such cases were against Izaya’s policy. He’d helped people he knew with things like this before and he was aware of how personally invested he would get if he took Shiki’s request.

Izaya weighed his confusing feelings for Shiki against his reputation and why the man would’ve come to him rather than going to someone else. And then he opened the text.

He should’ve ignored it.

~~~

Shiki didn’t enjoy working late at night. It made his joints ache and left his mind faintly foggy the following morning. It was made even worse when he was called to damp places. The bay was certainly not on his list of places he wished to be after midnight on a weekend. Akabayashi wouldn’t have disturbed him for no reason, however, and this situation did indeed call for discretion, something that Aozaki lacked in cases such as these.

“What happened?” Shiki asked quietly while he watched Vorona inspect the body at his feet.

Akabayashi’s frown said plenty about how he felt about finding one of their own dead in a place like this, “It looks like he was mauled by a bear or something. My guess is someone had a personal reason behind this.”

Shiki allowed himself a moment to light a cigarette before he stepped forward to crouch across from Vorona, “Tell me your observations on the body.”

Vorona’s eyes betrayed no emotion, but the slight tremor below her left eye told him she was angry. Rightfully so, if he was correct in assuming this man was one of those she had been assigned to partner with a few months previous. “Blunt force used, lacerations covering 68% of the body, shattered bones, crushed facial structure...evidence leads me to assume personal reasons as well. Done out of immense anger. Perhaps out of sense of revenge.”

Shiki breathed out slowly, careful to blow the smoke away from Vorona’s face, “Why revenge?”

Akabayashi answered before she could, “His face was seen during his last operation. That’s why he was retired into hiding and came to work for us.”

Shiki raised an eyebrow at Vorona. Everything he had heard about Vorona’s operations had been flawless, nothing in her file had mentioned this.

Vorona narrowed her eyes at the reminder, “Fought back against restraint. Knocked Suzuki’s mask off in his struggles. Suzuki wasn’t fast enough. Target escaped. I was detained elsewhere.”

“Did the target seem like he would come back this strongly?”

Vorona tapped her finger against her wrist twice before answering, “Uncertain. I did not view the struggle.”

“Suzuki was pretty banged up when he got back. I don’t think this was a fair fight. It looks like he was ambushed wherever the target attacked him,” Akabayashi sighed tiredly and rubbed his good eye, “and then he was dumped here.”

Shiki nodded, “Right. We’re looking for the same target then. That’ll at least give us a lead. Vorona, I need you to return to the office and write up everything you know about this individual. Send it to me as soon as you finish. I’ll take it from there. Akabayashi...make sure Suzuki’s body is seen to. Have Aozaki inform his family, if he has one. We have no need to inform Mikiya until we know more about this.”

Akabayashi frowned at him while Vorona stood to bow. Shiki shook his head, “We can discuss this tomorrow.”

“Don’t do anything rash, Haruya.” Akabayashi’s voice was solemn, respectful even with the use of his first name. Shiki chose not to reprimand him this time.

“I haven’t in a long time,” he replied.

If only he’d known just how difficult this case was, perhaps he’d have told Akabayashi that rash was exactly what they needed.

Once he received Vorona’s report he went to work researching every name connected to Izumii Ran, from his time in the Blue Square to everyone he reportedly interacted with in prison. It was a long list. For someone so unsavory he could certainly make connections.

At 2:30 am it became apparent that he did not have the resources to handle this himself.

At 4 am he made the mistake of texting a hitman that fancied themself a hero.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about this au for almost a year now and finally got around to starting on it. Hopefully you like it and I'd love it if you'd tell me what you think. I hope you're all having a good day.


End file.
